COLUMBIANA COUNTY Health-care plan wins approval

Employees will pay more to reduce the county deficit.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County employees will pay more out-of-pocket costs for health-care coverage when a new plan, anticipated to save the county about $300,000 per year, takes effect Sunday.
Commissioners approved the plan Wednesday. It does not include a managed-care option, which commissioners said they discontinued because it was costly and difficult for employees to navigate.
Previously, employees could choose either a standard plan or the managed-care plan. The providers were paid a fee for being in the managed-care plan, and during a treatment program, employees had to be referred to those various providers.
"The bottom line is the managed-care plan increased vendor costs, and we need to put every dollar we can into paying claims," Commissioner Sean Logan explained.
The new plan will continue to cost the county $848 per month for each employee on the family plan and $388 for each employee on the single plan.
Logan said changes in the health-care plan will help reduce health-care costs now, but commissioners still have a significant deficit to deal with.
Commissioner Gary Williams said the county faced a $1.2 million deficit in health care in December. Since then, commissioners have paid $745,000 toward back claims.
"These increases didn't happen overnight, so we won't get out of this overnight," Williams said.
Logan quashed rumors that commissioners haven't been diligent in paying claims because they are on a different health-care plan.
"We're on the same plan, so we want to deal with back claims as quickly as we can," Logan said. "We want to pay as quickly as possible. We will pay every penny of every claim."
New courthouse plans
On another matter, Terry McCoy of Hanahan-Strollo & amp; Associates, architects of Youngstown, told commissioners the firm should have plans in place to award bids for the new county municipal courthouse in the fall.
He said recent tests showed the Saltwell Road property is a good place to build, with no underground mines or other problems in the area.
Commissioners approved hiring Hanahan-Strollo at a set fee of $216,900. The county is borrowing the money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Division and repaying the loan with court fees, said Judge Robert Roberts of the county municipal court.
Judge Roberts, Judge Mark Frost of the county municipal court and McCoy should return in a few weeks with drawings of the one-story court, and will be prepared to buy the Saltwell Road property, Roberts said.
Closing on the property will take about 60 days after a purchase agreement is signed, he said.
"We are very pleased with Hanahan-Strollo," Judge Roberts said. "Terry has done great work for us, guiding us through the site selection process and the test borings."
McCoy said with bids awarded in the fall, construction could start in the late fall or early spring 2004, depending on weather conditions. He said the project will take about 12 months.
tullis@vindy.com